next time you're in town. >> i will pick some up. bill: good to be with you today. >> likewise. bill: happening now starts right now. >> brand new stories and breaking news. jon: more violence across the middle east. anti-american protests erupting as the u.s. clears out our personnel in some nation and issues travel warnings for others. we're live on the ground with the latest. back at home two men who want to be your next president repeg focusing their campaigns after a week of foreign policy. the economy is again front and center. who benefits more? a fair and balanced debate. the royal family fires back over topless photos of a future queen. the legal action buckingham palace is taking today in the face after growing scandal. those stories and breaking news all "happening now.". >> fox news alert. the anti-american protests are now entering a second week all across the middle

east, north africa and even beyond europe too. there has been a real weekend of deadly violence to tell you about. i'm jamie colby. i'm in for jenna lee. jon: thank you, jamie. thanks for coming in. also in lebanon the state department issuing a new travel warning for u.s. citizens this morning after hezbollah called for new protests there. in indonesia, protesters attacking police in jakarta and throwing rocks and makeshift bombs outside the u.s. embassy today. in pakistan at least one person killed as hundreds of protesters clash with police for a second day outside the u.s. consulate in karachi. this morning in afghanistan, protesters burning cars and throwing rocks near a u.s. military base in kabul. let's go to conor powell streaming live from kabul.

he has very latest. >> reporter: this was not a large protest but certainly was a very violent one. it seemed like a riot rather than a protest. seemed the riot terse were out there to cause damage from the very beginning. they picking up stones, throwing rocks at the police out there. they were setting tires out there. they tried to damage as many cars even police vehicles as they could. even setting a few on fire. it was only 3 or 400 afghans which by protest in afghanistan are relatively small but they certainly did do a lot of damage. they tried to march on the u.s. embassy but police did turn them away. in comparison to what we've seen here in the past this was a relatively small but violent protest but it really has caused a lot of problems here in afghanistan because in the past few days we had scene fairly peaceful, fairly calm, fairly organized protests but this really seemed like it was meant to cause problems, to riot, to incite anger. many of the protesters seemed to be teenage boys.

even some children as young as eight, nine, 10, 11, or so were seen out there. this seemed like a staged protest rather than a genuine outpouring of anger over this anti-islamic film. seems like the kids were taken from the madrassas and told to get out there and cause problems. u.s. and afghan officials tried to work to keep the situation under control. they did march on the u.s. embassy. they threw rocks on a u.s. base on jalalabad road where this took place. however they didn't do any damage. u.s. embassies and international embassies and u.s. bases are on lockdown. it this is one more hassle that the u.s. is dealing with here in afghanistan. they have have a lot of issues they're sorting out. there is a spike in insider attacks. talking to u.s. officials their feeling about this is one more thing they don't need here in afghanistan. they're hoping it will blow over here in the next few days, jon.

jon: conner in powell, streaming live from kabul. jamie: rough weekend there. right now the u.s. embassies in the middle east and all around the world remain on high alert as there are new anti-american protests flaring up in several countries, also raising more questions about who was behind the deadly attack on our consulate in libya last week and exactly what our state department may have known about any potential threats. that assault took the lives of four americans including ambassador chris stevens and those who were keeping watch. chief washington correspondent james rosen joining us now live at the state department. james, this is a developing story right now. what have you learned today? >> reporter: jamie, good afternoon from the state department where top officials are saying that the evacuation of diplomats, family members and quote, unquote nonessential personnel from our embassies in tunisia and sudan are quote, short term but prudent steps. on friday the american embassy compound in tunisia was breached with damage done to building exterior

yors and cars on site as well. nearby american school, international facility, blessedly closed that day was all but destroyed by arson. as for the attack in benghazi that killed chris stevens, our ambassador to libya and three other americans on 9/11 this year, state department spokesperson victoria knew land ruled out any further disclosure about those events. just to be a clear a reporter asked her in a rare 5:00 p.m. briefing on friday night, you won't be talking about the circumstances of ambassador stevens death. that includes the attack? correct. or what led up to the correct? correct, new land replied. every debail about the benghazi attack is totally off limits for west? this is something you need to talk to the. fbi about knot us about because it is their investigation, nuland said. ambassador susan rice

appearing about all five sunday shows did not appear bound by the new rules. her comments around the benghazi attack diverted sharply from what senior libyan officials have been saying. >> the best information and best assessment we have today is that in fact this was not a preplanned, premeditated attack. what happened initially, it was a spontaneous reaction to what had transpired in cairo as a consequence of the video, that people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons. >> the way these perpetrators acted and moved, i think we, their choosing their specific date for this so-called demonstration, i think we have no, this leaves us with no doubt that

this is preplanned, predetermined. >> reporter: rice added that the situation around our embassies has been quote, somewhat better since friday but she added there is no predicting exactly what the trajectory of this is. jamie. jamie: absolutely. that is the scary about. james, thank you so much from the state department today. jon? jon: jamie, fox news as you know is your eection headquarters just 50 days until we choose the next president of the united states and this week the candidates are crisscrossing key battleground states trying to sway those undecided voters. president obama is heading for the key swing state of ohio right now with stops planned in cincinnati and columbus. he is hoping to win the state's 18 electoral votes, come november. governor mitt romney is in california where he is talking to hispanic voters, a key voting bloc that could decide the election. he is also launching a new batch of campaign ads laying out specifics exactly how he

would govern. listen. >> got to balance the budget. you've got to cut the deficit. you've got to stop spending more money than we take in. an finally, champion small business. have tax policies, regulations and health care policies that help small business. we put those in place we'll add 12 million new jobs in four years. jon: let's talk about it with shane april, editor of campaigns and elections magazine. shane, the republican establishment, if you want to call it that was sometimes critical of the romney campaign saying they weren't giving enough specifics. there wasn't enough red meat in the detailed plans that they were laying out. so now the romney campaign says it is answering, it is giving more specifics, a new campaign is underway. are you seeing that? >> yeah. and you think we saw it this morning with the two ads that the romney campaign released, the snippet of one you just played. we'll continue to see it in the weeks ahead. for a while, jon, i think

there has been this line of thinking in an environment like this where the unemployment rate is above 8%, where president obama's numbers are where they are, the only thing a challenger would have to do is simply make the case that the current occupant of the oval office isn't fit for the job, isn't up for the job and the romney campaign and republican outside groups have spent millions in months making that case and the result is a race that is stubbornly close in the polls. so i think that this strategy shift is an acknowledgement that the romney campaign and the candidate have to do a better job on details, in sort of explaining their policy position and how a president romney would govern if elected. jon: this race stubbornly close in the polls as you say. since the elections, i'm sorry, since the convention as lot of polls have been suggesting that obama, president obama is pulling ahead, especially in key swing states like ohio, the president is uping his advantage? >> yeah. and i think when you look at

those polls, the romney campaign made the argument to "politico" over the weekend the national polls are sort of a better barometer at this point. i think that is hard to swallow. the state by state polls are difficult for the romney campaign right now. they realize they have to shift course a little bit. that's what we're seeing in the strategy shift. but when you're not running a campaign or when you're not on a campaign it is fairly easy to criticize. i think you've seen plenty of criticism from republicans and others how the romney campaign has been running this campaign over the past few months but one thing i think is actually important is something that i have heard repeatedly from some folks is that if the romney campaign would allow the candidate to sort of play to his strength a little bit, if the idea here is that mitt romney is a good manager, let him are go on the stump and sort of make the case that he can better manage the country's finances than president obama can as opposed to trying to make mitt romney

the most likeable guy in the world or make him acceptable in a way that perhaps the candidate is not comfortable with. playing more to the romney's strengths and the candidate's strengths is a direction the romney campaign would be smart to go in. jon: the president's campaign talks a lot about the plans for the stronger middle class but this is the middle class that has been suffering under four years of the bum administration. >> this is why you're seeing sew this argument from so many republicans saying if the party can't win in this environment something is wrong. this environment is a stark one when you look at the numbers about. president carter lost in 1980 the unemployment rate was 7.5%. we're above 8% right now. all the economic indicators are not good for the white house. and i think that's sort of behind the strategy shift right now. the romney campaign realizes they have to shift the ground and they have got to start doing it now and lay the ground for these debates coming up in october which i think will be tremendously

crucial to which way this race goes in november. jon: 50 days, just over seven weeks until we decide. shane deapril from campaigns and elections magazine. >> thanks, jon. jamie: israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has raised the stakes in the nuclear standoff with iran issuing a new warning and pressuring the obama administration to take greater action. live details coming up. jon: with anti-american violence spreading across the globe new questions about what the u.s. is doing to protect our diplomats and our citizens overseas. a former national security council senior director weighs in next. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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jon: we're going to take you now to lebanon. these are pictures coming into the fox newsroom of some of the people protesting outside, well, in lebanon.

sheikh nasrallah, hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah is actually making an appearance there. this is pretty rare for him. the israelis actually assassinated the previous leader of hezbollah. this is the group that has been, you know, sending rockets raining into israel, that kind of thing and they are out in protest right now. their leader, the guy who presumably ordered that kind of activity, has been speaking to them. he isn't often seen in public but he is there now. we'll keep eye on situation in lebanon. we'll see if it things get out of hand. it has been going that way into the middle east. we'll keep an eye out for you. jamie: anti-american violence is mounting at this hour literally around the world as we were showing you in lebanon. from afghanistan over the weekend, indonesia, pakistan to india, protesters are all are clashing with police near u.s. consulates and embassies putting our people

at risk. what is the u.s. doing to stop the violence and what are the arab nations and other host countries doing? are they doing enough to keep american citizens safe. michael singh is managing director of the washington institute for near east policy. michael, welcome, good morning. >> hi, jamie. jamie: we have great concern in each and everyone of these places where our u.s. assets and our personnel are. first of all what is the responsibility of the host nation to protect our folks? >> well, jamie, it is terrible to see these images rand our thoughts are with obviously our diplomats, our soldiers and also innocent people who are just caught in this cross fire. it absolutely is the responsibility of these host governments to protect our diplomatic installations. also to protect their own people again in these neighborhoods who are caught in this and it is also the u.s. government's responsibility to protect american citizens who may find themselves in these places. that's why you see the

warnings to americans frankly to leave places like tunisia and elsewhere. jamie: the anti-american sentiment which you've been tracking for years is obviously growing of one of the places that surprises me is in afghanistan where there have been some folks we've trained over the weekend that have killed our troops, and my question is, with all the years that we've spent, let's say afghanistan as an example, fortifying them, helping them, protecting them and preparing to lead, how could it happen there? should not that be the safest place for our people at this point? >> well, jamie, look you look across the world at what's going on including in afghanistan and many of these protests are just copycat protests. they are opportunistic protests by people who obviously have their own agenda which may be anti-american in nature but i think if you look more deeply what is causing this isn't caused by a video. the video may be the spark which set a let of this off but the deeper cause are

decades-long political and economic grievances that people in these parts of the world feel and in many ways we're sort of a scapegoat or an external kind of party to blame for those problems. frankly, that's true in afghanistan as well as in many other places in the world. jamie: let me jump in there, and i'm glad you mentioned that i'm getting a little tired hearing this film is solely responsible for all of this unrest in places like sydney, australia, really? my thought is and i want to ask you about this, what can we do to convince these folks otherwise? because i remember the approach in iraq was very different for troops than the approach in afghanistan where you deal with the local elders. how do we convince them we don't share those sentments? that we don't categorize the muslim people in that way? >> well, jamie, i think we can say it and our government has been saying it. we can disavow these things but we also have to be true to our values.

we believe in freedom of speech. we believe in freedom of religion. jamie i would caution against making this too much about oust. even though the spark for this may have been this video the actual grievances are much deeper and i think that in fact it is not just about us. look, the other parties have been targeted here too. religious minorities. the former regimes, liberal activists have been targeted over past many months in these places. it is a mistake to make this about us and these countries. it is not all about the united states here. jamie: can you or can you not change the minds of people involved in these protests in huge numbers? >> i think you can over time, frankly. the problem here again you have these grievances and more importantly you have parties standing by, radical islamists and others who are ready to exploit these grievances saying it is the united states to blame or israel to blame or somebody else that is to blame but what you lack is a sense of introspection or reflection

about how best to take these countries forward. what we need to do is support those who are advocating sensible policies to build political institutions to repair economies and take these places forward and that ultimately is a long-term solution. jamie: some of those countrs pulled down the video and taking off google and youtube in their countries. thank you so much, michael. >> likewise. take care. jamie: jon. jon: the latest on the investigation into a deadly attack on our consulate in libya that left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. the obama administration saying it does not believe this attack was premed i indicated -- premeditated as government leaders point to a carefully planned plot by al qaeda forces. catherine herridge is live with more on that after the break. today both candidates turn their attention back to the economy. president obama and governor romney campaigning in several key states. just 50 days to go until the election. which message will resonate

with voters?

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jamie: welcome back, everybody. right now there are new questions about al qaeda's possible role in those deadly attacks in libya that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other brave americans. was the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi planned by a pro-al qaeda group? al qaeda praised the attack yet to take responsibility for it though. was it another spontaneous anti-american protest like we're seeing all over the world following a similar outbreak of violence in cairo? also, just one day before those deadly attacks in benghazi, al qaeda leader ayman al-zawahiri issued a message announcing the killing of the network's number two leader by u.s. drone strike back in june,

calling for revenge. was that the motive? chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge following everything live from washington. >> reporter: jamie, good morning. according to the president of libya's interim assembly more than 50 people are under arrest for the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi with the blame falling on the al qaeda affiliate in north africa. as fox was first to report thursday a leading suspect is ansar al-sharia trying to establish a islamic state in eastern libya. they blame fighters from somalia and algeria for the assault. foreign fighters is code for al qaeda affiliated groups or jihadist. law enforcement and congressional sources tell fox they still don't have good visibility who the people are and basis for the arrest suggesting 50 are under investigation and a handful of actual arrests have taken place a libyan security guard told the mcclatchy newspapers and this is a significant development, there were no protests before the benghazi attack. the assault didn't begin

until 9:35 that evening. there wasn't a single person outside the libyan security guard told the reporter from the mcclatchy newspapers. wouldn't you expect if there were others outside the americans would leave? fox news was told investigators are reviewing incidents over the last three months. four attacks beginning june 6th with an ied was thrown at the u.s. consulate perimeter. mid-june the u.k. ambassador's was struck by a rpg. late august the u.s. red cross was also struck. given that picture, the u.s. consulate was in the cross-hairs. >> this was a place targeted months before with an ied. it is clearly a target they want to hit and they wanted to cause casualties. i find it a little, glaring question of the 9/11 date, just too many coincidences here. >> reporter: well certainly early in the investigation based on my conversations the other lead be group is

called lifg. this is the libyan islamic fighting group. this group is closely al lied with with the al qaeda affiliate in north africa and this is a group that traditionally sent fighters to afghanistan to fight against the united states, jamie. jamie: thank you, catherine very much. >> reporter: you're welcome, let's look at the countries that saw regime change as a result of the so-called arab spring. take a look at this photo. this is a class photo of muammar qaddafi convened this group less than two years ago. this is some of the leaders of arab and african states around the world. take a look at this guy. that is president ben ali of tunisia. he left office as a result of the arab spring in january of 2011. next to him, president saleh of yemen. he is also gone. forced from power in february of 12. muammar qaddafi you know what happened to him just about a year ago in october of 2011, killed by his own people.

and hosni mubarak, he is also out of power, out since february of 2011. let's talk about it it seth jones, the author of, hunting in the shadows, the pursuit of al qaeda since 9/11. he just current from trips to the united arab emirates and saudi arabia and afghanistan. big picture, seth, why so much turmoil in the middle east right now? >> well, i think there are a range of militant groups that still exist in these areas. several of them are directly associated with al qaeda, and i think what they're trying to do is fill a vacuum in countries from libya through eindependent if and yemen and into the gulf. we're seeing as part of these protests i think efforts to try and take advantage, as we're now seeing in libya, by al qaeda's affiliate ansar al-sharia, to target u.s. interests. so i just don't see this as just being spontaneous. jon: but haven't some of the top people in the obama administration told us that al qaeda is essentially on

the wain? we have, by taking out usama bin laden and others we have decimated that organization? >> i think they said that publicly. i think in reality we've seen quite the opposite in a range of places. al qaeda in iraq. the president said the war in iraq is over. al qaeda in iraq at are double what they were last year. we've seen al qaeda in the a rabe european peninsula in yemen. its control of territory has somewhat increased along southern parts. i think the reality is we're not seeing the words of the administration translate into actions on the ground. jon: why, for instance, did we not have better security at our outpost in libya? >> i can't answer that question but what i can say, as you noted, a couple of minutes ago, is, it is stunning, based on the sheer number of attacks over the past several months in ben dpauzsy alone, including an attack against the british ambassador that we did not have better security for our

ambassador who is at the consulate in benghazi. really was a very serious terrorist threat in that area. jon: susan rice, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. was on the sunday shows saying those were spontaneous uprisings especially there in libya and it was not any kind of a coordinated attack. your thoughts? >> well it is interesting because that picture somewhat diverges from senior libyan officials are now saying where they have information of conversations when the protests in cairo had started between members of al qaeda and the islamic magreb and al-sharia to take advantage what they saw as an opportunity to push fighters and weapons into the consulate into benghazi. the picture that susan rice presented clearly contradicts what libyan officials are saying actually happened. jon: seth, thanks very much for your insights. we know you've just been in the region. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you very much.

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better plan to boost the economy. the gop ticket reportedly plans to many haer the president on the national debt. look where it is, folks. higher than ever. even displaying a ticking debt clock at their events. brad woodhouse is the democratic national committee's communications director and sean spicer is a republican national committee's communications director. welcome to both of you. >> thanks, jamie. jamie: let me start with you, if i can, brad and ask you the president says his campaign slogan is forward. can you go forward in terms of the campaign speeches you'll make and stick with what you've done so far that many americans believe hasn't worked where the economy is concerned or do you admit you need a different plan? >> well, not at all in terms of the message. i mean if you look at the polls, the president is now ahead of mitt romney in the polls as relates to who can handle the economy and who would be better for the middle class and think that is because the american people understand where we

were. four years ago this past saturday lehman fell and the stock market went through the floor. we're not facing those times. times are better than they were then. we're not where we need to be but the president has a plan. he has a plan to lay it out at the convention. he has a jobs plan republicans in congress like paul ryan have refused to pass that would create a million jobs right now. so i think we're headed in the right direction. we'll lay out that choice in the american people as we get closer to the election they're tuning in. that is why the president is well whaed in the polls and well ahead on the issue of the economy in many polls. jamie: tell me the number you think is well ahead? >> well, i mean he's, he has got a 12-point lead as it relates to dealing with medicare. jamie: no, no on the economy. on the economy. >> he has got, he has had a lead four polls came out last week and i can't recite every number but four polls came out last week, all of them new national tracking polls ahead of mitt romney? jamie: beyond the margin of error?

>> go ahead. jamie: go ahead, sean. >> four national polls have him ahead on issue economy. jamie: but i want to give people, you said wide margin but within the margin of error, there is no margin at all. it is dead heat. go ahead, sean. >> i want to back up. four years ago the president said i would get the deficit cut in half. we went from a 10 trillion dollars deficit to 16 trillion. he said if he didn't have the economy going by end of the first term would be a one-term proposition. all brad is say something bunch of excuses. fact is 23 million americans are unemployed. >> that is not true, sean. that is not true, sean. >> magic number, brad i let you go. >> 23 million people are not unemployed. >> number that matters, jamie, the president has not gotten tough on china. this president has -- >> we just filed a wpo case against china, sean. jamie: it president is talking about china, at today.

but, important thing is getting people back to work, sean. what is the be all, end all, top unememployment rate that the american public will tolerate because it is over 8%? we know historically that is too tough for an incumbent to win, sean? >> hear is the problem when it comes to china. for four years that -- >> what about the unemployment rate, sean? jamie: brad, hang on one second. >> he is finally filing a case. but here's the biggest thing, when it comes to small business the biggest problem small business has china nip lates its currency putting u.s. businesses at a disadvantage. seven times, seven times, this administration said no when it comes to whether or not to certify china as currency manipulator. there is no way that the president can talk about being tough on china. for four years --. jamie: let me jump to brad. hang on, brad, one second. i will let you answer your point. but at 8.1% do you believe that the american people will vote for president? you say it is not 23 million?

i bet it is even more people who have given up or working under their normal pay scale. >> look it is not 23 million unemployed. you hear us say every day we're not satisfied where the economy is. jamie for two years. >> neither are we. >> republicans refused to work with us creating jobs. let me talk about china for a minute. mitt romney, this is interesting place for him to go. i invested in china as a person. he invested in china through bain capital. he invested in sweatshops there and he outsourced jobs to china. >> everything that the president does you don't --. jamie: hang on, sean. sean, we're going to get to you. >> concerned, if you're concerned about china and the economy, mitt romney is the last person to vote for. jamie: but when you look at that debt ceiling, clock you have to admit, brad, when you look at that debt ceiling clock you think about how much china crows our economy, i mean i wanted to ask you about people getting back to work. this is not a good thing. this is not a good thing. banks are not lending.

small businesses aren't getting money they need and unemployment rate is stuck over 8% which the president did say, correct me if i'm wrong, sean, wouldn't happen. and you're very close to the election now. so, what is the number would happen? what is the number that you think the president can with stand and win, over eight? >> look right now, the number is what the number is and he is winning but we're not satisfied at all. i mean we want to see the unemployment rate drop. we've been working on that. it has dropped from a high of 10% to 8%, 8.1%. we created 4.6 million jobs in the past 30 months. we lost 4 1/2 million jobs in the last year of the bush administration. clearly we're better off. jamie: last point, sean, let me ask you to jump in, mitt romney has said in campaign speeches 12 million jobs will be created. what is the plan? how can you reassure the american people that those jobs and maybe even more might be created?

how? >> well with the first thing you got to do is look at a track record the president made a lot of promises. he hasn't followed through on of them that what is romney's plan. >> he made promises he followed through on them. second, when it comes to mitt romney he is not going to wait four years to get tough on china. he will take them on head on day one. >> jamie is he not answering the question. no, i am. >> he is not answering the question. >> mitt romney doesn't have a plan to create the economy. jamie: sean is answering how the jobs were created. you bro it up china. >> the key funny thing, when you ask me a question what mitt romney can do i can talk to you about mitt romney's, when you ask brad it is excuses blame, and everything but an answer to the question. jamie: guys? >> promises from 2008. jamie: a heated and fair and balanced debate. we appreciate it we're out of time. >> thanks jamie. jamie: good to see you both, brad and sean. jon? jon: israel's prime minister ba. >> minute net-net had some

ominous words over what his nation believes iran is up to and capable of. he said that over the weekend. coming up rick leventhal is in israel with that country's reaction and an update.

♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a stunning work of technology. introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. jon: "happening now", a dire new warning in the standoff with iran over its nuclear program. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying iran may be only months away from a full-fledged nuclear weapon, something that could reshape the balance of power in the middle east. prime minister netanyahu did not directly call out president obama but did say the u.s. needs someone in the white house who will draw a red line. >> i think implicit in that, if you're determined to prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons, it means you will act before they get nuclear weapons. i think it is important to communicate to iran that there is a line that they won't cross. i think a red line in this case works to reduce the

chances of the need for military action. jon: rick leventhal is live in jerusalem. very tough talk there from the prime minister, rick. what's on about the reaction inside israel? >> reporter: well, jon, many current israeli security officials do not support preemptively striking iran and the former head of the israeli intelligence agency said it would be reckless and irresponsible to do that but the prime minister says it would be more dangerous not to act. he says israel has a right to defend itself and faces annihilation. he also compares iran to the militants who have been storming u.s. embassies across the globe. he said iranians are fanatics. they have suicide bombers everywhere and they can't be trusted. >> since the advent of nuclear weapons you've had countries that had access to nuclear weapons who always made a careful calculation of cost and benefit but iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fa gnat civil. the same fanaticism you see storming your emba issies

today. you want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons? >> reporter: netanyahu said he may not wait for the elections in november by the u.s. he is not guided by america's political calendar but iran's nuclear calendar. jon: iran is talking tough here. >> they are indeed. the commander of the iran revolutionary guard said nothing will be left of israel if it tries to attack iran. they will smother it the country with missiles and rockets kets and bombs. and iran will strike u.s. military bases in the region as well. netanyahu use ad football metaphor sunday to explain why he is willing to risk this realtation. >> they're in the red zone, you know. they're in the last 20 yards. you can't let them cross that goal line. you can't let them score a touchdown. that would have unbelievable consequences, grievous consequences. >> reporter: and speaking of

lebanon, the largest demonstrations that we have seen so far, many thousands, tens of thousands of people now taking to the streets of beirut. they're supporters of shiite militant group hezbollah, massing at urgency of hezbollah's leader hassan nasrallah, a very rare site, calling for protests of the internet video that insulted the prophet muhammad. the crowds are saying death to america, death to israel saying those responsible for the film must be held accountable. they will hold more protest throughout the week and this weekend. no reports of violence in lebanon at this hour. jon: rick leventhal reporting live from the middle east. thank you. jamie: an army doctor found guilty of murdering his entire family more than 40 years ago. ever since jeffrey macdonald has maintained his innocence. now this case, so talked about is getting another look. we'll have a live report next. we'll tell you why.

trying to stay one step ahead of our enemies. the military is getting creative now in its efforts to make better armor to keep our soldiers safe. what we're doing, next. [ humming ] [ humming ] [ male announcer ] kraft macaroni & cheese. you know you love it.

jamie: right now a judge in north carolina is tacking a brand new look at an infamous murder case that spawned not only a series of books, a made-for-tv movie too. jeffrey macdonald was the defendant. a former army doctor who has spent the past four decades behind bars, convicted back in 1970 of murdering his pregnant wife and two children. he always maintained his innocence and now he could be getting a new trial. jonathan serrie is live in wilmington, north carolina,

covering that. jonathan, i'm curious, is there new evidence or new science that will perhaps get him a new trial? >> reporter: it is previous unheard testimony and also relatively new science the judge will be looking at dna evidence from hairs found at the crime scene. and of course dna evidence was unavailable to investigators back in 1979 when jeffrey davis was convicted of the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two young daughters. the judge will where is consider previously unheard statements from a now deceased u.s. marshal who claimed he heard a prosecutor intimidate a habitual drug user who allegedly confessed and later denied she was present during the attacks. listen. >> i think evidence, a deck of cards, evidence, and the jury was dealt a hand from an incomplete deck. half of the cards were missing. >> reporter: that is author

errol morris who writes about the mcdonald case, the wilderness of error. he is most famous for directing to the documentary of the thin blue line. helping to free a man in texas. he hopes his new book will achieve similar results for jeffrey macdonald. jamie: all along what has jeffrey macdonald has said? he claims his innocence but does he have a version what happened in the 1970? >> reporter: his version of what happened four complete strangers broke into the family house overnight and bludgeoned he and his family and daughters and him. three men accompanied by a woman in a floppy hat, saying acid is groovy and kill the pigs. they are reminiscent of manson. military investigators suspected macdonald committed crime himself they decided there was

insufficient evidence to court-martial him. but nine years later at the urging of his father-in-law, the justice department prosecuted case and he was sentenced to life in prison. what you see going on here at the courthouse in wilmington, north carolina, is mcdonald's latest attempt to prove his innocence. jamie. jamie: fascinating. jonathan serrie live at the courthouse. jon: we've seen days of violent protests across the world. the presidential campaigns are looking to turn voters attention back to the economy. how they hope to do that coming up. the riots are not over yet. new protests erupting in lebanon, afghanistan and indonesia. a live report coming up "happening now."

jaime: even more protests erupting in the muslim world targeting u.s. embassies and interests. jon: we'll get the very latest and mind out what is being done by these nations and the white house to protect our citizens abroad. the candidates hitting key

battleground states. will the nation's troubled economy be back in focus on the campaign trail? plus the sound you hear is new life at the national zoo that has millions of animal lovers excited all around the world. we'll get a live report. jaime: of course the deaths of four americans in libya turning into a political blame game. welcome to "happening now." i'm jaime colby in for jenna. jon: i'm jon scott. sparking a heated debate, how the violence in libya, benghazi got started and who is to blame. it was a coordinated attack launched from several directions by well-armed muslim extrao*eplists. the obama administration is digging in its heels insisting

this attack was spontaneous. the american ambassador to the u.n. make the rounds on talk shows. >> the best assessment we have do is that in fact this was not a preplanned, premeditated attack, that what happened initially was it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo as a consequence of the video. people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons which unfortunately are quite common in post revolutionary libya, and that then spun out of control. jon: bret baier is the anchor of special report and joins us from iowa. we'll talk about that in just a minute. why is the administration cuing to this line about no preplanning, no military attack, this was just a spontaneous demonstration that got out of control? there seems to be an awful lot

of evidence that flies in the face of that. >> reporter: well, there does, jon, but i mean they are adamant. we have reporters pushing on this very point all over the place. james rosen talking to a u.s. official moments ago and they are saying it's the consensus view of the u.s. intelligence community. catherine herridge just moments ago putting into our computer system an yo urgent cue saying she has a ground source in libya saying there was no demonstration prior to the attack which began to unfold at 9:35pm even attack that included rpg's, mortar fire, direct and indirect fire. you have all these different elements of the story developing by the minute and yet the administration is adamant that this wasn't premeditated, wasn't preplanned and they are sticking to this all tied to the video. it's very interesting that this is the tack that they are

taking. jon: a united states senator and even the president of libya disagree with the administration on these points. let's listen to that and we'll get back to it in just a moment. >> i'm not sure how much preplanning went on but it was clearly an act of terror. people don't bring heavy weapons and rocket-propelled grenades to demonstrations because they want to demonstrate. and it was very well carried out with direct fire and indirect fire. so for the united states government to say that it was simply a spontaneous act flies in the face of of the facts. >> the way these perpetrators acted and moved i think they choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, i think we have -- this leaves us with no doubt that this is preplanned, predetermined.

jon: and that is the remarks from -- authors the remarks from the libyan president, that the administration is pushing back on yet again this morning, this senior official as you point out saying he, the president, doesn't have the information we have. i suppose the advantage to the obama administration is that if this is seen as just a spontaneous demonstration then nobody can get in trouble for not knowing that it was coming. >> reporter: sure, i guess there is that element to it. you have, jon, this kind of, listen this is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. the fact that this was a possibility in a place as volatile as libya, on the ground, at least had to cross someone's alert at some point. so the questions about security, why wasn't it increased? the questions about what was known about the potential threats on the ground and were there warnings ahead of time? there are a couple of reports out there that there were meetings about the security

situation in benghazi prior to this attack. i think we have a lot to learn, and it's still developing really as we can see by catherine and james and other reporting by the hour. jon: it became a huge issue, obviously, in the presidential campaign last week, with mitt romney and president obama trading accusations and so forth about how the attacks on our embassy and our other facilities were handled. politico, as you know, is just out with a piece looking at the inside of mitt romney's campaign for the white house, and saying that the campaign has badly stumbled. it points to the fact of two speeches that he planned to make at the republican convention were written and then scrubbed and it says this. the harsh process resulted in a colossal oversight. romney did not include a salute to troops serving in two war zones and did not mention al-qaida or afghanistan, putting

him on the defensive on national security just as the middle east was about to erupt. it was also very light on policy specifics, much to the chagrin of conservatives. what do you make of that piece coming out right now? >> reporter: well, clearly there is a push by the romney campaign to refocus, to somehow reset. you know, you talk to carl cameron and he talks to those sroebgs everthose folks every day to get a sense of how the battleground states are setting. they want to make it a leadership election not just a stewardship election. they want to really change the focus, perhaps than just the economic numbers especially in the wake of some of these foreign policy decisions. i think, you know, he's had some interesting nuggets in it. how the election goes over the next 50 days we'll see whether that piece plays in history or

not. i think, you know, if the romney campaign is able to turn this around, clearly president obama has gained some steam in some of these battleground states. and i should point out, maybe that is a good transition, that's why we are here in ohio. jon: speaking of battleground states. >> reporter: that's right. this place is a focus for both campaigns. vice president joe biden is here, paul ryan is here today in iowa, and we are focused here in jasper county, one of about 30 counties around the country that we believe this election will swing on. swing counties within swing states. we've spent a lot of time here in iowa, as you remember, in front of the straw poll and the caucuses. we've focused on three different people over our time, one of them was shawna jannssen, a mom of two, a work mom, she is an independent, we followed her

through her decision process. she is not sure, was not sure. right now she is leaning towards mitt romney, and we've talked to her along the way, we talked to her again yesterday. >> i think i will forever be an independent but i am leaning, leaning towards romney at this point in time. >> last time we chatted you said that really the deficit and debt and concerns about your kids really drove your thinking. >> yes. >> is that still the case? >> yeah, that is still probably the issues that are for mos foremost in my mind and are leaning me towards romney, the concern about our national deficit and our increasing debt and the burden that that would place on my kids. >> reporter: people like shawna obviously both campaigns would like to go after her, and we are going to bring you some of the stories of some of the people we've been following. we also have karl rove and joe

trippi breaking down the electoral map. a special report from ohio tonight. jon: special report on the road, bret baier the host. you can tune in to special report we can nights 6:00 right here on fox news channel. the important issues affecting that county and how they relate to the bigger picture of the presidential campaign this year. jaime: good to hear from real folks. after a weak focus on foreign policy the presidential campaigns are shifting gears and turning their attention back to the economy. it's a key i shall you've course for most americans. the latest fox news poll shows likely voters are split dead even when it comes to who they trust to do a better job handling our economy. chief political correspondent carl cameron live in los angeles. that is where governor romney is addressing the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce. good to see you, carl. hispanics a very important and key voting blob. so far romney a bit behind in the polls with them. will this rare conference call

that he had today outlining his campaign message make a difference and why did he choose to do it? >> reporter: first on the latino vote, governor romney does trail about 3-1. pretty high. republicans need to get well over the 30%, 35% mark in the latino vote to be truly competitive nationwide. the fox polls, the fox latino poll suggest that mr. romney is down in the 20s on that score. the campaign held a news conference teleconference a short while to talk about what will be the next couple of weeks of the romney-ryana campaign's intense look at the economy. what a senior adviser said on the call was that voters do recognize that mitt romney has a plan to fix the competent, they don't know a heck of a lot about what is in it. the nexium couple of weeks before the debates there will be an intensified effort to talk about those policies.

romney likes to talk about it in five points but he put out a 63-page book about it in more detail earlier thisser year in las vegas. it's not a reset or retool which often happens for challenging campaigns against an incumbent. we saw it with john mccain versus barack obama back in 2008 when there was an open state, in past campaigns john kerry had to completely retool his staff at times as did george w. bush in 2000. the romney campaign is amping up the rhetoric to show that romney is offering specifics affirmatively for that barack obama's record has been poor. voters want to see more specifics from romney but also a fair amount of criticism from the conservative pundit tree in the country and the base of the party's influence tphraoupbgs right that has said while romney

makes an anti-obama candidate he needs to be specific. that's what the campaign was arguing today, not new material, just a greater focus. not at the exclusion of foreign policy. the romney campaign is keenly aware that they need to stay available to the news of the day. when the foreign chaos is what it is in the last couple of weeks they need to be more nimble in responding to that. they recognize there are opportunities to point out that a vote for president obama for re-election in the romney campaign's view is a quote for the status quo. if voters really want change it's time to change the president or expect more of the overseas chaos and domestic decline that the republicans have been complaining about. jaime: great overview, carl cameron live in los angeles. thank you. it is a busy day for governor romney, also for president obama kicking off this busy week on the campaign trail visiting some key battleground states over the next several days. right now the president is on his way to several events in

ohio. he'll be making stops later this week in new york, florida, virginia and wisconsin. vice president joe biden meeting today with voters and also tomorrow in iowa, and his opponent republican vice presidental candidate paul ryan will also be in iowa today. jon: lots of focus on iowa today. the brave marines who guard our embassies overseas facing thousands of anti-american protestors. how tough is their mission? we'll take a look at what our service members are up against. jaime: quite a bit for sure. plus the countdown to a nightmare scenario in the middle east. israel's prime minister is warning that iran may be just months away from an ability to build an atomic bomb. what is the end game in the nuclear showdown with iran? >> they are in the red zone, you know, they are in the last 20 yards and you can't let them cross that goal line, you can't let them score a touchdown because that would have unbelievable consequences,

grievous consequences.

jaime: anti-american processes are spreading throughout the world. it's forcing u.s. embassies to go on high alert. they are trying to tighten their security. standing in the line of fire in those hot spots are the u.s. marines. they risk their lives protecting our diplomats and facilities. how tough is their mission. let's go to lieutenant colonel to answer some of those questions. over the weekend, an inside job, afghan security forces that we trained at our own bases, does this take it all to a new level? >> absolutely. i mean we've lost a lot of americans here over this year alone, and in fact in past years to people we have trained, people we were working alongside of and people unfortunately for some cases we really thought we could trust and for some reason

turned their weapons on us and made it very difficult for not only the marines, army, air force, navy, other people serving overseas. these are tough times and add to it the middle east. jaime: our marines were set to protect our assets, people, installations in the sudan. they were prevented. there were obstacles put in place to not allow them in, not to go to war, just to protect us. how do we tolerate that? >> these are tough guards. i'll point out quickly to the viewers that every one of our embassies and i think every consulate, at least most of them have marine security guards there, and those marines there have a principle mission, not of protecting people, protecting the ambassador or others, although we tend to think that, but really to protect very sensitive communications equipment, cables, the kreufplt i. a. vaults, all the things that have high priority national

security interest, which this lost would really create damage or harm to the united states. our marine security guard people in embassies like khartoum, or in cairo or virtually any place where these things are going on, number one rule protect sensitive equipment. number two rule when asked to do it is defend people's lives, protect the lives of the american citizens, like the ambassador or others. these are small posts, jaime in most of these embassies, when we look at bringing other marines in like the fleet antiterrorism support teams typically we have to get the permission of that foreign government to let the teams come in. jaime: i expressed a concern over the weekend, that if we can't keep our state department personnel this these countries we are also giving up the ability, in addition to whatever the c.i.a. can do of collecting intelligence in these countries that we need here at home for our national security, so i'm

glad you brought up the point that at these installations there aren't just personnel, there is paperwork. >> a lot of stuff, jaime. >> at that point what is the obligation of the host country to protect us? is it left to our personnel alone? >> great question, jaime, and i'll tell you why i like that question. people need to understand that that american embassy compound or that consulate compound is sovereign u.s. territory, much as any embassy here in washington d.c. is the sovereign territory of that nation. when somebody jumps into our compound it's like showing up on the shores of new jersey or california. they have just crossed a line they should not be allowed to cross and it's our job in my judgment to make sure nobody crosses that line. and we haven't defined our ability well yet to make sure people in other countries know don't cross. jaime: let me just ask this. yes or no, is it an act of war once you jump that, once we learn who was responsible, let's

say, for example, in libya, what do we do? >> that's a great question too. it's an act of war in the government is behind it. it's not an act of war if it's people off the street who aren't affiliated with the government. overtly at least, in some cases there may be people p quietly working with the government. it's an act of when the government is involved. i'll go back to teheran when all our hostages were taking. cue mainee was clearly behind the taking of our american hostages and the come bound. we have not seen that yet in these instances. what we have seen yet is host countries have not stepped up at least some of them to this point and taken the responsibility of, that's who he kay if the protestors want to protest outside the wall, off of your property but the minute they start to scale those gates, those countries should be stopping them from doing it and the minute they get inside those gates, we the united states in my judgment ought to take appropriate action and sometimes that means killing them.

jaime: i'm up against a hard break, i feel like we covered so much. thank you very much for weighing in. >> thanks, jaime. jon: on a happier topic have you heard the sound of a baby panda? you will ahead. when we got married.

i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule.

. jon: you're inside america's election headquarters and we are looking at the all important swing states, the states that will decide the results of this election. president obama won the popular vote in new mexico by nearly 15% in 2008, but this time around it looks like things could be a lot closer. let's take a look at new mexico, and some of the stats that are determining this election. new mexico has five electoral votes, a relatively small number

out of the 270 needed, but both candidates are fighting over them very, very hard. the unemployment rate in new mexico 6.6%. it's actually a lot better than the national average, in large part because of the energy industry at work there. gas prices $3.69 a gallon. in terms of the number of visits, each candidate, well, mitt romney has been there once, president obama not at all since april. now in large part that may be because the obama campaign has thought that they had new mexico pretty well locked up. the latest "real clear politics" lling average for that state gives the president a 10 point lead, 50 for the president to 40 over governor mitt romney, if i can bring that up in the polls. there it is. 54 the president to 40 for mitt romney. michael coleman is the washington bureau chief for the albuquerque journal. michael, it's my understanding

that the poll that your newspaper put together has the numbers a lot closer than that. >> that's right. our poll that ran last weekend had president obama up by just five points over mitt romney. it's a lot closer than the national polls are showing. i think part of that tightening of our poll has to do with the fact that 80% of the respondents to our poll are proven voters, they are not just people who say they are going to vote, they are people who actually voted in past elections. new mexico has historically always been close in the presidential race. this will be a little bit closer than national polls are showing. jon: one of the interesting aspects of this race is a guy named gary johnson who was in the republican race for the presidential nomination, didn't do much, didn't get a lot of attention, now he's running as a libertarian. he's a former governor of your state. which candidate is he hurting? he would presume mitt romney. >> that seems to be the conventional wisdom but our poll actually showed something different. he's pulling equally from both

candidates. he pulled about 7% in our polls which is higher than most national polls. he took equally from democrats and republicans. he's a very fiscally conservative politician but he's socially liberal. he wants to legalize marijuana, he supports gay marriage, he wants to get out of afghanistan. those sorts of positions are appealing to democrats and it remains to be seen how he will break this this election, right now he's pulling equally from both sides. jon: mitt romney is in california making a pitch to hispanic voters. he's not going to win california but how is he doing among hispanic voters in new mexico? >> not good enough n. our poll president obama had 46% of the hispanic vote. mitt romney had 26%. he needs to improve on that dramatically if he hopes to win new mexico. i imagine he'll be relying on our governor, a very popular governor suzana martinez, who is hispanic. she pulled a 69% popularity in our poll. i would assume in the weeks ahead we'll see her a little more active for mitt romney in

new mexico. jon: the president's numbers, the president seems to have widened the gap between himself and mitt romney a bit since the conventions. is that the case in new mexico or is the race getting tighter? >> i think it has got even a little bit taoeurt. one of the things we've seen in previous election cycles in new mexico is lots of visits from the candidates. you said president obama hadn't been to new mexico, he was earlier this year. he gave a speech about energy policy. it's one visit a piece for both of them this cycle which would seem to indicate that maybe we are not that important of a state. with the polls tightening i would expect another couple of visits from both candidates. jon: i think we were talking about since april of this year was the cut off date. at any rate,. >> okay. jon: it will be interesting a very tight race in new mexico and bringing a lot of attention to your state. michael coleman from the albuquerque journal. michael thank you. >> thanks for having me. jaime: well, it didn't happen

exactly right now but we are bringing it to you right now, that is the important thing, a new addition at the national zoo in washington, and is it cute. listen. i don't know, jon, do grown up pandas make a different noise. jon: i guess it's a deeper version of that squeak. jaime: i'm not sure. but i think that is mom and she is very happy, and speaking of a mom, and about to be, ban julie banderas live in the newsroom. jaime: do you think your baby will be that cute. >> i hope so. but not as big. god only knows i don't want to have a 20-pound baby and not as hairy either. the new addition to the national zoo in washington a baby panda. the female giant panda has given birth to a baby cub and the zoo

staff says they can actually hear the cub but they have yet to actually see the cub because the mom has built a largenes large nest where she gave birth at about 11:00 last night. let's listen again. [squeaking sound ] >> the cub is the second born to the mother as a result of artificial insemination, and the zoo director could not be more thrilled. listen. >> we've worked so hard for so long to have this birth come along. everybody is thrilled but we are cautious. it's a very, very tiny cub, about a hundred grams. a powerful set of lungs as you've said and that indicates to us that we probably have a healthy cub. until we get our hands-on it in about a week or two we'll keep our fingers crossed. >> of course the mother is very over protective over this little cub, she's actually had five consecutive pseudopregnancies

since 2007. this is the second she's actual high given birth to. we'll all have to wait and see before we can actually get the cub revealed to the less of us. jaime: cute as a button. thanks, julie. jon: and the crowds will be lining up. as anti-u.s. protests spread around the world there is a stark new warning from israel's prime minister about the possibility of a nuclear iran. more coming up much. ♪ [ male announcer ] finally, mom's oven-baked tastes straight from the microwave.

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jon: police in egypt finally restoring calm near the u.s. embassy in cairo after a series

of violent protest. s. take a look at video from cairo during the height of the protests on friday. one of the men who organized it is the younger brother of arno osimon al says zari. >> i asked him if he organized this protest at the american embassy where they tore down the flag, ran up the infamous flag, chanted death to america and all the other things if he had seen this movie that allegedly caused all this automatic rage. he said, no, i haven't seen it but the mere title of it is so insulting is to warrant all of these protests. also he's talked a lot about the filmmakers behind this movie. he says he wants them tried before a sharia court, meaning

under sharia law, an islamic court and if they do not repent for their making of the movie he would like to so them executed. this all came down to this movie that allegedly insulted the prophet muhammad, he says that is the worst sin that you can perpetrate in his religion. one of the things chanted during the time down on the u.s. embassy grounds was obama, obama, we are all osama. they were spray painting on there, we have 1.5 billion bin ladens, referring of course to osama bin laden. if you really got the feeling from, i'm surprised because this is from the brother who leads al-qaida there is a large part of the islamic group here in cairo and the hard-lined jihaddists who do consider themselves very much in line with osama bin laden and for that matter consider that he is a hero and they continue their battle with the united states. jon: what is the significance of the group his brother is

heading? >> the significance now is is that this guy is out of jail. he spent a longtime in jail. he was interrogated for a longtime under the extraordinary rendition program of the c.i.a. he now says he's out of jail and wants to in some way broker a peace deal between his brother who was the leader of al-qaida in the west. he goes back to the same thing al-qaida has said all along, they want the united states out of the middle east, they want the united states to allow them to have islamic states with sharia law and on and on and on and that will be the only way there will be peace. this guy is very plugged into the militant jihaddist networks here and around the middle east an says there is nothing that has been more helpful for them and the big thing that has helped them over the past year or so is the arab spring that helps them to create an islamist state in egypt, here and syria. jon. jon: we thought it was all about democracy and freedom. leland vittert reporting from the middle east.

jaime: israel's prime minister take being to the american airwaves warning that he believes iran may be months away from being able to produce an atomic bomb. that is far shorter than most previous estimates. iran claiming that it is only building nuclear power for peaceful purposes, of course. still the prime minister again drawing on the u.s. to draw a red line for iran. >> iran has been placed with clear red lines on a few matters and they've avoided crossing them. i think as they get closer and closer and closer to the achievement of weapons grade material. they are very close, they are six months away from being about 90% having enriched ooh rain yam for an add tomorrow bomb i think you have to place that red line before them now before it's too late. jaime: what does it mean for the u.s. and its showdown with iran. democratic congressman adam smith, the ranking members on

the armed services committee, congressman welcome. the prime minister asked the white house initially for a meeting. i know that he had an hour-long phone call it's been reported with president obama. do you think the white house is doing enough to support israel and it's now new concern that iran is further along than previously thought? >> absolutely. we are working very, very closely with the israelis. i was in israel last summerment i've been briefed many times both by israelis advice iing d.c. and u.s. officials. we both see this as a huge threat certainly to the security of israel in the middle east but to the security of the world. stopping iran from getting a nuclear weapon is a very high pr priority, we are working close with israel to make sure we do that. we give israel $3 billion in aid a year, it's a very tight relationship, we are trying to figure out how to deal with what is a very difficult problem. jaime: in reading the papers in israel today, including the jerusalem post that i looked at rather careful flow to see what

the israeli reaction is it sounds to me and looks that way that the israelis are looking for more clarity from our white house on what we would be willing to do. what is your guess on what really is on the table for this white house? >> it's problematic to create red lines or whatever you want too call them. you don't want to tell your adversary here is exactly what we're going to do if you do this. it limits your flexibility, tells the other side exactly what your plans are. the president has said clearly we will not allow iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and all options, including military strikes are on the table. now the difficulty is they are enrich the uranium up to i think almost 20% now, there is a line that you have to step across to begin enriching it beyond that to get up to weapons grade. once they step across that line, you know, estimates, i've heard estimates raining from 4 months to a year before they could get enough uranium to make a bomb.

that doesn't give them a bomb, that is a line that if they cross we can see it and we know we are in a more dangerous spot and you have a few more months after that. you really don't want to tell an adversary here are exactly our plans. we have to keep up the sanctions pressure, have to build interest nation until support and work very closely with israel to make sure that all options are on the table and we have the best military plan fit comes to that. there is no really good plan on that front. jaime: and i appreciate that all options are on the table, congressman but it's interesting to hear you say that we shouldn't be giving out that information when the white house has told afghanistan and all the bad guys there when we're actually going to have our troops leave, this is a very dangerous situation. >> that is not an accurate description of what is going on in afghanistan. we've been there for a longtime. we are drawing down. we have said we are going to keep counterterrorism forces, we are going to keep a close alliance with afghanistan but we've set a goal towards drawing down so that the afghan government, and the afghan military can be ready for that

transition. i don't think that calm par son plays at all. jaimecalmcomparison is correct. jaime: i'm only asking. our viewers want to know. jon: you're looking live at he'd even mark, cincinnatadams park, cincinnati. his remarks are streaming on foxnews.com. he then goes to columbus, ohio, ohio a very pivotal race in this election. we are all over it. we'll be right back. oh no, not a migraine now.

try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. jon: a new analysis piece in the washington times says the mainstream media are providing cover for the obama administration saying protecting and defending president obama's through his failures and blunders and gaffe is is a full

time job for the main team press corps. let's talk about it with jim pinkerton. and alan colmes is host of the alan colmes radio show. alan i know whenever it is suggested that the mainstream media are in the tank for president obama you fire back. >> it's amazing how many conservatives get elected and how we have a conservative congress while the media is in the tank for the liberals. all the mainstream media or any other media has to do is report the facts. romney bungled the statements. he got the timeline wrong. he said it was an apology to people who were committing violence when it was not, there was condemnation. he got the timeline wrong on the condemnation. he confused the embassy with the consulate. not even conservatives who have gone after romney and shaking their heads at the way he is running his campaign that is not

the left-wing mead kwhra doing it. you have dissension in his own campaign. jon: you say he got the timeline wrong in what way? >> he was wrong to immediately say that there was some kind of apology after there was this breach at the embassy in cairo. there was actually not an apology but condemnation long before the breach took place. he was long on the timeline on that. jon: jim, what about that? the apology is i think directed toward the protests and this supposed film which may or may not even exist, it lives on the internet, but whether it's actually a film or not is still kind of an open question. >> light, let's step back a second while alan is agonizing over a timeline. >> no agony for me. >> the fact of the matter is a u.s. ambassador has been killed, our embassies in a dozen countries are under siege. our afghanistan policy seems to be sort of collapsing. among all these friendly fire

incidents and alan is worried about timelines. it would seem to me -- let me finish. the larger issue higher as joe ef curl said in his piece is the mainstream mead yar more interesting in pounding away on romney for words while they are covering up, i think that is a fair word for obama's deeds. the issue here is not what romney is saying if you don't like it, alan the issue is what is happening in the middle eastern world where they are killing americans. >> when you have someone who is trying to conduct diplomacy which i suppose romney thought he was trying to do words really count. when you have the death of american diplomats words really count. when you say those words really count and when he jumped into the fray before knowing everything and decided to attack the obama administration, falsely say there was an apology and get the timeline wrong, yes that really counts for something. if you want to be the chief executive of the united states that may make a big difference. >> alan do you think that mr. al

zawahiri, on the leland vittert segment a moment ago cares what mitt romney says. >> i think america should care if they want to elect him president. >> americans are being killed, the obama policies are failing and we are arguing about romney's words. >> are you telling me any time there is violence anywhere in the world or some diplomat sadly, tragically gets killed that it's the fault of the president of the the united states and romney's campaign says if there us was a romney presidency this wouldn't happen. he can control every bit of violence everywhere in the world? does that make sense? >> you should read this week's weekly standard which has a great picture of the embassy being stormed and a quote from president obama from 2009 saying it's all going to be changed now that i'm doing a new outreach for it. it hasn't worked. >> the weekly standard has gone after romney for his behavior and lack of understanding the situation and the timeline. "the weekly standard" has gone after romney for this.

>> they've got after romney on the timeline they've gone after obama on substance and american lives and interests. >> timelines are substantial when you're talking about this kind of tragedy. jon: we'll have to leave the discussion there. this thing is going to continue i think all the way until election day. jim pinkerton, alan colmes thanks. alan's new book "thank the liberals for saving america." we'll be right back. insulin users test often. freestyle lite can help you test easy. they need a third the blood of onetouch ultra. zipwik tabs target the blood and pull it in. call now for free strips and a meter.

jaime: if you love the troops as much as i do you know we are always looking for new ways to protect them. laura ingle has found one it sounds like. she is live in the new york newsroom. >> it's a new way of looking at an old problem the military reaching out to research universities including john hopkins kings and rutgers to revolutionize the way protective

armor is designed. >> what captain america needs is a new shield and we're going to build it. >> the threats range from improved simple ballistic threats such as bullets that will improve to more complex threats such as improvised explosive devices. >> at rutgers the work involves manipulating materials under extreme heat to reduce the weight of body armor by 30% while making it 50% more efficient. >> we are not just going into a cabinet, pulling out materials and testing them one at a time, say do they work. we are going in that cabinet taking that material out and say how do we change it to make it work? >> working with a $90 million award from the army johns hopkins is leading the team. >> what are we about to see here? >> you're about to see the moment of impact. >> firing in three, two, one -- >> the hopkins extreme materials institutes runs experiments to measure and better understand

how he will amounts respond when subjected to high velocity circumstances. >> what we do is to protect the people who protect us. >> another goal jaime reducing the a. time it takes to get the new and improved armor into the field. the scientists we spoke with say if you're going to give someone to wear and say this is going to protect you you better know it's going to do just that, and that takes a little bit of time. back to you. jaime: let us find the funds for all the stuff they need. thank you, lawyer a. we'll be right back, everybody. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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